ora’s life, he neither judges her nor rejects her testimony, but attempts to help her. Since Freud’s use of the frame narrative in effect makes him the appropriator of Dora’s story, the barrier between Doctor and patient dissolves, thus making it quite difficult to see the female patient as inferior.The barrier is also dissolved in the sense that throughout treatment, there is a constant battle over control. This battle and its resulting frustration, further exemplifies how misunderstanding his female patients allows Freud to question the validity of gender roles. Freud wanted to possess Dora intellectually, to have her accept all of his analyses of her illnesses. But she was recalcitrant and often rejected them, which led to Freud’s frustration: “Above all, he did not like her inability to surrender herself to him” (Marcus, 90). Freud’s constant preoccupation with Dora, the fact that he invested so much time and energy into the publication of her case, exhibits that he was not used to such an obstinate patient. However, Freud is drawn to Dora because of her refusal to be subordinated. She makes him rethink his postulations about women; it was during Dora’s treatment that he developed the Transference Theory.As Freud attempted to exert control through his position as doctor, Dora was able to gain control by manipulating his personal weaknesses. Because she was not completely cured when halted treatment, Dora fed Freud’s fears of being an inadequate healer: “For how could the patient take a more effective revenge then by demonstrating upon her own person the helplessness and incapacity of the physician?” (110). Freud’s extensive commitment to Dora led him to unknowingly invest an incredible amount of emotion into their rapport. Freud’s personal involvement in Dora’s case allowed her to gain the upper hand and left Freud vulnerable: “Her brea...
